The life and death of the Drachen Fire

[mmcirvin]

I guess it's summer, or close enough; I'm reading pages about roller coasters again.

Here's a really interesting (to me) 2009 article on the history of the Drachen Fire, the short-lived 1990s coaster at Busch Gardens Williamsburg that I've mentioned here several times before; I happened to get to ride it multiple times (with whiskeyrivers and his wife) when I was visiting Williamsburg for the wedding of my friends Holly and Phil.

It appears that the Drachen Fire was something of an interesting failure, an attempt by classic steel coaster manufacturer Arrow Dynamics to move outside of their comfort zone and show up upstarts Bolliger & Mabillard (now the leading giants of the industry), who had abandoned the project in its early stages. The result was a ride that was much rougher than even many coaster fans were willing to stand, mostly because of twists and rolls that were centered around the train car rather than the rider's center of mass.

When I rode it, I remember there was almost no wait. Since I was not much of a coaster enthusiast and had no experience of anything newer than the Loch Ness Monster and the now-defunct Big Bad Wolf, I assumed that the short lines were because of the marginally out-of-the-way location, and that the way it flung us around violently was just the way big roller coasters were these days. (And I was impressed and had fun, but after that day I wasn't inclined to ride a coaster again for quite some time.) It was, I now realize, actually much worse in terms of lateral g-forces than most coasters of the era, or of today, and that people were avoiding it because it was getting a bad reputation.

And the thing has apparently gained some sort of dark mystique in subsequent years from the fact that they shut it down for being too badass after just a few years. I imagine the three gigantic coasters they've put up at Busch Gardens since then are probably more entertaining for real-life visitors, Fabio excepted.

(As for what's going to be built to replace the Big Bad Wolf, it looks now like the plans are rather different from the flying coaster rumored there: it's some autobahn-themed launched coaster partly following the Wolf's old layout.)

Comments

[ikkyu2.livejournal.com]

I am no great scholar - I still have not made my pilgrimage to Cincinnati to ride the Beast, which for all I know was closed decades ago - but I did recently ride a rollercoaster that was simply not any fun. It was the rollercoaster that goes through the casino of the New York, New York resort hotel in Las Vegas.

It jarred loose a canalith and I was vertiginous and mildly nauseated for the last week. (I may have been nauseous, too, but that was not the rollercoaster's fault.) The seats were uncomfortable; it was a true Vegas experience.

I like good rollercoaster design. They collected my $whatever for a pass to ride the coaster all day, and it was so unpleasant that I did not want to get back on. I guess they won, but I wish they had made something better.

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

The Wikipedia page on that ride mentions complaints of roughness and bruises. They also claim it isn't as bad since they put in new trains in 2006, but trains can only do so much if the track design is what's making it rough.

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

...the Beast is still running, by the way, last I heard. The attempt at a followup, Son of Beast (which originally had a loop!), had a checkered history involving a personal-injury suit and is currently shut down.

[ikkyu2.livejournal.com]

After I posted, I was able to find amateur videos of rides on both 'coasters on YouTube. They look like fun. They are rattly old wooden coasters like Colossus at Six Flags Magic Mountain here in Valencia, CA; you get banged around in the car because the whole track sways from side to side as the train passes over it.

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

The Beast is a looong ride for a roller coaster; there are only one or two in the world that give you more riding time. I haven't ridden it, but a coworker of mine highly recommends it.

[lots42.livejournal.com]

If I'm building a product that is designed to strap people in and give a false sense of danger, I am not naming it 'Fire'.

It's like naming a submersible 'Gigantic Explosion'.

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

You know, it just occurred to me that every steel coaster I've ever ridden on was designed by the same man, Arrow Dynamics' Ron Toomer (http://www.britannica.com/coasters/i_toomer.html). He apparently worked on the Apollo command module before he got into amusement rides.

"I don't ride the things I design though," Toomer says. "I've had a bad motion sickness problem since I was a little kid. But I've ridden enough of them to know what happens and how it feels."

This includes the very first coaster I ever rode on as a kid, Hersheypark's Trailblazer; all those early Busch Gardens ones, and the Canobie Corkscrew.

I think of the three woodies I've ridden on, two were classic Herbert Schmeck designs and one (the awesomely scary Mister Twister) was John C. Allen.

Well, I think my horizons are going to be broadened a bit in the near future.

[sunburn.livejournal.com]

I rode Drachenfire and I definitely recall it was more coaster than I had ever experienced, but I liked it. It did, however, turn off my dad, who is a coaster-lover. It had a few uncommon "thrills," such as some props and even proximity to its own track that would ring your "decapitation danger!" bell. I really liked that sort of "buttonhook" loop it had, but I won't miss it. I do miss the Big Bad Wolf, though, and of course Nessie.

That article is the first time I've seen Busch Gardens Williamsburg referred to as Busch Gardens Europe. hmm.

Also, on my recent and first trip to Vegas (for business, largely) I wanted to ride the New York coaster and if possible the Stratos Coaster, but simply had no time-- had 2 evenings and one exhausted morning and midday to do some exploring. New York, at least, I could walk to, but Stratos was miles away. Too bad I didn't go-- the company doesn't ask questions about cab receipts.

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

"Busch Gardens Europe" seems to be the current branding of the park, but it's not completely consistent (it's similar to the name when it first opened, which was "Busch Gardens The Old Country").

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

...Hmm, it occurs to me that my lingering affection for the place might be an actual motivation to go to a William and Mary class reunion someday.

[sunburn.livejournal.com]

Or go the weekend after, when there are more hotel rooms available. Of course, it's Williamsburg-- you can stay anywhere from Richmond to Norfolk.

P.S. New TMBG "Join Us" July 19.

[sunburn.livejournal.com]

4 tracks released at iTMS (http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/join-us-ep/id432020950?ls=1)

Hear the first one (http://kut.org/2011/05/they-might-be-giants-cant-keep-johnny-down-2/) for free. It's not a kid's album, but as usual, it's probably something you could play in front of kids.

See also their youtube channel (particlemen) and podcast, both of which have apparently been active lately and I'm just clueing in. But it is my traditional duty to notify you of these things.

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I listened to "Can't Keep Johnny Down" when it came out; didn't make a strong impression on me initially, but I'm eager to hear the rest of the album. Flans keeps saying it's an attempt at a return to the style of the early days, though "Johnny" sounds more like post-2000 TMBG.

Be thankful it's not the dog fart coaster

[timchuma.livejournal.com]

http://www.themeparkreview.com/parks/photo.php?pageid=56&linkid=452

Re: Be thankful it's not the dog fart coaster

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

Oh, dear, you're not kidding.